Sunday, September 01, 2019

Deception: The DPIC "Exonerated"/"Innocence" List

Deception: The DPIC "Exonerated"/"Innocence" List
Dudley Sharp, independent researcher, death penalty expert, former opponent, 832-439-2113, CV at bottom

As of 9/1/2019, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) "exonerated"/"innocent list has 166  "exonerees" released from death row (fn 1).

Within that list, there are two major errors which brings that 166 number down to 33 , as reviewed in (1) and (2), just below.

The Innocence Project and the National Registry of  Exonerations appear to have similar "standards" as DPIC.

Since 1998, the DPIC "exoneration" and/or "innocence" numbers have been an, easily, discovered deception, as basic, simple fact checking/vetting confirms ( fn 2 ).

In 1998/99, it took me 5 minutes to discover this and I wrote the first op/ed on this, in 2000, "Death on Hold?", The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2/5/00.

(1) The DPIC Deception of "Innocent" and "Exoneration"

The DPIC, simply, redefined both "exonerated" and "innocent" (fn 3) as if they had redefined lie as truth, and stuffed a bunch of cases into those perverted definitions.

This is not in dispute and is very common knowledge, for anyone that fact checks/vets or is, otherwise, involved in this public policy debate.  See (3), just below.

DPIC labels death row cases "exoneration"/"innocent" based upon any one of these: 

When a conviction is overturned, if (a) the state does not seek a retrial; (b) charges are dismissed; or (3) if a retrial occurs and the defendant is found not guilty. (fn 3)

None of those descriptions defines or establishes "factual innocence", as most know. Based upon DPIC's  definitions, all of those, that the DPIC calls "exonerated"/"innocent" could be factually guilty of those murders.

However, based upon several reviews, between 17-29% (fn 2) , or an average, or 23%,  can be claimed as truly, factually innocent or a 71-83% (77% average) error rate in the DPIC "innocent"/"exoneration" claims, when evaluating those cases with the proper definition of innocent/exonerated, being "it has been proven that the exonerated/innocent person had no connection to the murder(s)". or equivalent.

The DPIC tells us that the "Innocence List" was created "to identify the risks that innocent people might be executed.' (fn 4).

That's a lie. It was created to be a deception.

If DPIC were being truthful, such would mean "factually innocent" inmates, as properly defined  Yet DPIC tells us that the standard is their three definitions, none of which need an actually innocent finding  (fn 4).

The DPIC deception is idiotic:  We can't execute legally innocent inmates. That is impossible.

The only innocents we can execute are "factually innocent" ones that have been through the appellate process, without being overturned and without "factual innocence" being discovered, prior to execution  --  the specific cases that DPIC said that the "Innocence List" was, allegedly, designed to reveal but, instead is just a clear deception.

In addition, DPIC fails to tell us how many of those "exonerated" had been taken off death row, prior to their "exoneration", meaning no longer subject to execution. 48% of cases are removed from death row by means other than execution  . . . meaning that due process removed the possibility of them being an actually innocent executed.

Those 48% taken off death row were no longer subject to execution, lowering the risk, even more.

As  detailed, there are no credible cases of innocents executed in the modern era, meaning that the required due process has done its job.

(2)  Modern Era Death Penalty

The DPIC has (now 9/1/19)  23 cases in their "Innocence Database" (fn 1), which had convictions prior to 1977 (fn 1). Those should be excluded, with some exceptions (fn 1a).

The modern death penalty era began after Gregg v Georgia (1976), which radically changed death penalty jurisprudence. That is not in dispute.

Looking at, only, post Gregg cases (see fn 1a), such brings the number down from 166 to 143, then 143 times a 23% accuracy rate (77% error rate), for the average of 33 cases of factual innocence, or a range of  24-41 cases of factual innocence, for the error rate of 71-83%, as per New York Times, Florida Commission on Capital Cases, official, actual innocent findings in Texas and US Supreme Court Justice Scalia's findings of 0.5% actual innocents sent to death row (all fn 2).

(3) Confirmation of the numbers

There is an easy way for anyone to confirm this, on their own.

Important - you must fact check/vet anything DPIC tells you. 

Similar confirmations with the Innocence Project (IP) and the National Registry of  Exonerations NRE), are advised, as both of which seem to have similar problems.

This works for all "exonerated"/"innocent" cases, not just those from death row.

Send the following, a-e, to all of those groups

a) How many of the, alleged, "innocent"/"exonerated" have been declared "factually innocent" by a judicial or legislative body, given that responsibility, by statute, with the definition of "factual innocence" being "it has been proven that the "exonerated"/"innocent" person had no connection to the murder(s)" or equivalent;  and

b) Which of the alleged "exonerated"/"innocent", were denied compensation based upon "wrongful convictions" and/or "factual innocence", as defined, above, in (a)? and

c) Which of the, alleged, "exonerated"/"innocent" chose not to apply for compensation based upon an alleged "wrongful convictions" and/or alleged "factual innocence", as defined, above
, in (a)? and

d) Which of the, alleged, "exonerated"/"innocent" were compensated based upon their "wrongful convictions", whereby that "wrongful conviction" was not based upon "factual innocence"?, as defined above
, in (a):

e) For death row cases, only: How many of the, alleged, "factually innocent", as defined above, were no longer on death row at the time they were proven "factually innocent", as defined above
, in (a)?

f) Can you provide government records for a, b, d and e, from which I can verify their credibility, or lack thereof, for those, alleged, "exonerated"/"innocent"?
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NOTE: What is a "Wrongful Conviction"?

It can mean (1) legal error, by existing law, or post conviction new law, whereby the conviction is overturned, (2) cases that are pardoned and/or commuted by Governors or Presidents and /or (3) any judicial proceeding wherein an agreement is reached to commute a case or lessen sanction, based upon many factors  . . .  and if DPIC so wishes, their 3 conditions . . . which may or may not have anything to do with "factual innocence".

For example, approximately 39% (3140) of the 8000 death penalty cases, 1977 through 2019, could, accurately, be called "wrongful convictions" (fn 5), of which only O.4% (33) were factually innocent, based upon this review, the rest, 99.6% (3108), being a product of legal issues.

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fn 1 "Innocence Database", DPIC,  viewed 9/1/19,
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence-database

fn 1a   There are 6 additional cases,  whose death sentences were given 1973-1976, from  Texas, Florida and Georgia that were not excluded, because their new death penalty statutes, after Furman v Georgia (1972), were all accepted as valid within Gregg v Georgia (1976). 

fn 2   Death Row, "Exonerations", Media  & Intentional Fraud
https://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2019/06/death-row-exonerations-intentional-fraud.html

Innocent Frauds: Standard Anti Death Penalty Strategy
https://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-innocent-frauds-standard-anti-death.html

fn 3  See bottom of the page, "Terms" then "Exoneration Procedure" at

"Innocence Database", DPIC,  viewed 9/1/19,
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence-database

fn 4) see comments

posted by richard dieter @ 3:34 pm mon, apr 12, 2010

The "Innocent", the "Exonerated" & Death Row:
An open fraud in the death penalty debate: how death penalty opponents lie
http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-innocent-exonerated-and-death-row_19.html 

fn 5  This is an estimate, based upon 1977-2019 death row cases, the only point of which is describing "Wrongful Convictions"

From the Sentence/conviction overturned", "Sentence commuted" and "Other/unknown removals" columns from Page 20, TABLE 17, Prisoners sentenced to death and the outcome of the sentence, by jurisdiction, 1973–2013,

From which is subtracted the 1973-1976 cases, from those equivalent columns within Page 19, TABLE 16, Prisoners sentenced to death and the outcome of the sentence, by year of sentencing, 1973–2013.

both from
Capital Punishment, 2013 - Statistical Tables | December 2014, Bureau of Justice Statistics
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cp13st.pdf 

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